


I Call Out to You

by Phlebas



Category: Hikaru no Go
Genre: M/M, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-09-14
Updated: 2005-09-14
Packaged: 2017-10-22 15:35:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/239593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phlebas/pseuds/Phlebas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A question and an answer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Call Out to You

Hikaru sat, hunched, on the hotel bed.

 _Why does Touya always have to say things like that? I would never have deliberately tried to embarrass Team Japan! Does he not believe that I would try my best? Does he not believe in my go? Does he not believe in me?_

 _Even after two years of chasing him, we are still not face to face. How bold I was then! Claiming Touya Akira as my rival, saying that one day it would be the real me and not Sai's ghost that would be standing in front of him._

Sai knew this also. "Two years ago, the Hikaru that Touya played... that was I. My strength inside you. He asked "Who are you?" At that time, the answer was Fujiwarano Sai. But, although it is my thousand year old shadow that Touya is chasing, the one to answer that question will be you. The Hikaru that absorbs me and continues to grow. Touya, the one you will eventually meet is not I... but Hikaru."

 _When I grieved for Sai's disappearance, it was Isumi-san that made me realise that the Sai I couldn't find anywhere else was above each board I faced, hidden within every stone I placed. The only way to see Sai again, to see you again, Touya, was to play. Touya. You were the only one to **know**  that I was connected with Sai. You must know that I would fight in Sai's place! That I refuse to lose to a man who disrespects the path of Honinbo Shusaku, the child who gave over part of his mind to Sai, the ghost who was my sensei._

 _When I ran after you that day, just to tell you that I hadn't quit go, that I would walk this path forever, you said 'Come after me!' but still... all I see is your back. Perhaps that is because you do not wish to turn and face me._

Lost in thought, Hikaru missed the soft tapping on the door. Only the light of the opening door penetrated his dark thoughts.

"Touya!" His voice incredulous, Hikaru looked up to find Touya crouched in front of him.

"Shindou. You didn't come down to dinner so..." The young man looked distinctly uncomfortable being in someone else's hotel room. "I got Kurata-san to give me the extra key card so I could check on you."

Hikaru just stated at him, uncomprehending of this concern from such an unlikely source. Theirs was a friendship based on strong rivalry, bound together by a passion for go and a complicated past. Yashiro had probably spoken for everyone when he asked "A friendship based on fighting? Are these two for real?" when watching them dissect a game. From the outside looking in, it was the most improbable of relationships but it had worked for them. Until now.

With the uncanny intuition that enabled him to read an opponent's strategies long before they were complete, Touya understood his whirling thoughts. 'It's what I said before dinner isn't it."

Hikaru slowly nodded his head. "I thought that we were past that. That we respected each other enough to know that we would not..." His voice trailed off as he hunched over even further, dropping his eyes to the floor. 'I don't even know what I'm saying!' he thought miserably.

A finger delicately touched his chin, gently but inexorably raising his face. Beneath the straight bangs that always fell in his face, Touya's eyes held an intensity that was rarely exposed outside the game. "Shindou. I want to know about you and Shusaku. There was a time when you said, just for me, you might reveal that mystery. But now is not that time. Tomorrow you're my substitute for First Board. Don't be scared, Shindou. I don't know what you're hiding in your past but since you're taking my place as First Board... I won't allow you to have any embarrassing results tomorrow."

Lips were gently pressed to his forehead and then his mouth. Hikaru's eyes fluttered shut as Touya's breath breathed between his lips. His eyes opened as Touya lifted his lips away. The look in Touya's eyes hadn't changed, and Hikaru's heart beat faster.

"Come with me." There came the quick smile, so rare in the always serious Touya, but all the more precious for that. "You can't play Go on an empty stomach you know!"

The next morning, Kuwabara Sensei watched team Japan stride in, Hikaru in the lead, Akari a step behind. He nudged his student. "See Sakamaki-san? Go can't be played with just one person. You need two. One genius can't give birth to a great game. You need two equally blessed players. Two. When two finally come together... that is the Hand of God."


End file.
